The Michigan Central Station has sat vacant since 1988 when Amtrak ceased passenger service to the 104-year-old train station in Detroit.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

The three-day Detroit Homecoming event will kick off Sept. 13 in the long-vacant Michigan Central Station.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Homecoming Director Mary Kramer spoke about Detroit Homecoming at an announcement event Thursday in Michigan Central Station. Kramer is group publisher of Crain's Detroit Business and Crain's Cleveland Business.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Matthew Moroun, son of Manuel "Matty" Moroun, whose companies have been slowly renovating the Michigan Central Station building in recent years, spoke about the site being chosen for Detroit Homecoming during an announcement event Thursday.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

The fourth annual Detroit Homecoming event, taking place from Sept. 13-15, will include a cocktail hour on the 13th floor of the iconic Michigan Central Station.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

A 13th-story window in the long-vacant Michigan Central Station offers a view of Detroit. Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun's companies have been slowly renovating the building, most recently adding windows in 2015.

Chad Livengood/Crain's Detroit Business

Shoe imprints from the builders of Michigan Central Station are still visible on the 13th floor.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Organizers of the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming announced Thursday that the event showcasing the city to former residents will include a dinner inside the long-vacant Michigan Central Station.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Wendy Hilliard, a Detroit native and former Olympic gymnast, established a program for children in Detroit as a result of her past attendance of Detroit Homecoming event.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Detroit Homecoming Director Mary Kramer speaks about the expat event at an announcement Thursday in Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

Aaron Eckels

The 104-year-old Michigan Central Station in Detroit closed in 1988.

Aaron Eckels

Crain Communications Inc. Chairman Keith Crain speaks Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

Downtown Detroit Partnership CEO Eric Larson speaks Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

Crain's Group Publisher Mary Kramer, with Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain in background, announces details of the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming on Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

Aaron Eckels

"The star of the show this year, I think we're standing in it," Crain's Group Publisher Mary Kramer said Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

The long-vacant Michigan Central Station in Detroit is the backdrop for Thursday's Detroit Homecoming announcement.

Aaron Eckels

Matthew Moroun, whose father Matty Moroun, bought the Michigan Central Station in 1996, speaks Thursday at the Detroit train station as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

Matthew Moroun, whose father Matty Moroun, bought the Michigan Central Station in 1996, speaks Thursday at the Detroit train station as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

"(Redevelopment of) the depot is going to take a marathon, but we're not at the beginning of the race, we're a few miles into it," said Matthew Moroun, whose father, Matty, bought the building in 1995. Crain Communications Inc. Chairman Keith Crain is seated at right. Organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming on Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

Aaron Eckels

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit as organizers announce plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

"What's more symbolic of this city's decline and rebirth than the images of the Michigan Central depot four years ago and the images today?" Mayor Mike Duggan asked as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming on Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

Aaron Eckels

The 104-year-old and long vacant Michigan Central Station in Detroit is the backdrop as organizers announce plans for the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

Matthew Moroun (left), whose family owns the Michigan Central Station in Detroit, and Detroit native Wendy Hilliard, a former Olympic gymnast, chat at Thursday's announcement about the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming.

Aaron Eckels

Wendy Hilliard is a Detroit native and former Olympic gymnast whose New York-based gymnastics foundation has established a program for children in Detroit as a result of her past attendance of the Detroit Homecoming event. She speaks Thursday at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit as organizers announced plans for the fourth annual event.

The Michigan Central Station in Detroit's Corktown area closed in 1988 and has been vacant since then.

Annalise Frank/Crain's Detroit Business

Organizers of the fourth annual Detroit Homecoming announced Thursday that the event showcasing the city to former residents will include a dinner inside the long-vacant Michigan Central Station.

Chad Livengood/Crain's Detroit Business

A view of Roosevelt Park and Corktown from the never-finished 13th floor penthouse of the Michigan Central Station train depot in Detroit.

Chad Livengood/Crain's Detroit Business

A view of the former railroad terminal at the Michigan Central Station in Detroit from the 13th floor of the abandoned train station.

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Talk about redeveloping the long-vacant Michigan Central Station in Detroit's Corktown area heated up again Thursday during an announcement about this year's Detroit Homecoming, which will hold the first significant private event in the 104-year-old train station since the mid-1980s.

The Moroun family of companies have spent in excess of $8 million over the past five years abating the building, constructing a freight elevator in the shaft of the depot's original smoke stack and installing 1,100 windows, said Michael Samhat, president of Crown Enterprises, the Morouns' real estate development company.

"(Redevelopment of) the depot is going to take a marathon, but we're not at the beginning of the race, we're a few miles into it," said Matthew Moroun, whose father, Matty, bought the building in 1995.

Until two years ago, the building had sat vacant without windows for several years, which made businessman Matty Moroun the subject of public scorn.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that when he took office in 2014, he sought to mend a "somewhat checkered" relationship the Morouns have had with past city administrations.

The mayor said Matthew Moroun brought him "a list" of issues "he would like to have help on."

Duggan did not disclose what was on Moroun's list. But he did divulge his demand for the billionaire owners of the Ambassador Bridge and a nationwide trucking and logistics business empire.

"I said, 'there's one thing: Every time I read a damn national story about Detroit there's a picture of the train station with the holes in the windows as the international image of the city's decline,'" Duggan said, recalling his conversation with Moroun. "I said, 'I want you to put windows in the train station. And if you do that, everything else will be just fine.'"

The windows were installed after scenes for the film "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" were shot inside the Michigan Central Depot in 2014. Sitting in the middle of the grand waiting room are pieces of a foam column left over the from the movie shoot.

Since the Morouns installed the windows in late 2015 at a cost of $4 million, Matthew Moroun said he's had more interest from developers with "hundreds of great ideas" for a building that has sat vacant since 1988 when Amtrak ceased passenger service to the 104-year-old train station.

Moroun estimates it would cost in excess of $100 million to renovate the train station.

"We're looking for the right idea that's not only popular and motivating, but also economically viable," Moroun said. "We're getting closer all of the time."

Moroun indicated his company will use the Detroit Homecoming event to market the building to former Detroiters. Private tours are planned, he said.

Duggan said the building could house a corporate headquarters or have high-end lofts on the 13th floor, which has a 360-degree view of greater downtown Detroit and the waterfront.

"I'm not the one who has to make the numbers work," Duggan said. "When the day comes, I'm going to do everything I can to help make the numbers work."